Tis book was absolutely the most interesting book that I've ever read. In a way the book threw itself to me i just had to read it.
The reason I chose this book is very simple. Not only is it quite intriguing and relatable it is also the most interesting book I’ve ever read. It just had a real good mixture of drama and deceit. It practically threw itself towards me.
Genre:
I’ve classified this to be under speculative fiction, young adult literature, science fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction. This is because The House of the Scorpion is a speculative fictional book because it’s from a futuristic point of view of modern day Mexico. Which is ruled by a drug lord (Mr. Alacran) who has made it into a Utopia for those who are wealthy and at the top of the social hierarchy. For example, Mr. Mendoza visits his estate regularly because he’s a senator which puts him on top of the hierarchy. This novel fits in to young adult fiction simply because it deals with a young boy growing up and becoming a young man including the challenges and rough times he went through. It also falls under this category because it is directed to young adults whether it’s the moral image or lesson it is used to intrigue young adults and I can honestly say it intrigued me. It’s simply science fiction because this obviously didn’t happen or hasn’t happened and will most likely not happen. So that leaves us with the discussing of why this falls under utopian fiction. This fall under that because Atzlan is a place where there is social and political perfection. It was a place designed and made to be perfect.
Summary:
The book is quite interesting actually. It’s told from the futuristic point of view of modern day Mexico. It’s the story of a young boy who is designed and created to be a clone for the world’s richest and most powerful drug lord (Mr. Alacran). The only catch is that he doesn’t know he’s a clone. He finds out after he leaves with the Mendoza kids to the estate and then there is where the story truly begins. At the estate the drama and conflict begins to occur. Everyone starts bullying young Matt and treating him like crap. But as he grows older he begins to realize what he was made to do which is be used as an organ donor for the drug lord (Mr. Alacran).
Character Summary:
El Patrón Is compared to a vampire multiple times throughout the novel, and it's never a compliment. If you think about it, comparing him to a mummy might work just as well. What I – and the characters in the book – are getting at is the fact that El Patrón is crazy old and seriously creepy. At over 140 years-old, he definitely shouldn't still be alive, and in that sense, he's a lot like Voldemort –alive and kicking when he should be dead as a doornail. Oh, and to top it off, he's evil. Of course, this is all making it sound like El Patrón is some sort of hideous, monstrous troll. But the freakiest thing of all is that El Patrón looks like a normal guy. He isn't a mutant. And for all his evil qualities (of which there are many), El Patrón can be quite likeable. It's why Matt feels a lot of affection, and even love, towards El Patrón, especially in the beginning of the novel, before he wises up.
“Always choose your bodyguard from another country, they find it harder to make alliance and betray you.”
Maria As Matt's love interest, María could have just as easily been a dolt – nothing but eye candy for Matt to swoon over. Luckily, Farmer gives us a fully-drawn character with a complicated family life instead. Farmer also got away from traditional hero tales by making María less than perfect. In fact, I don't mind saying it, María is downright annoying at times.
"I know that's a sin, and I'll probably go to hell for it."
Tam Lin Tam Lin, Matt's mentor and guardian, is not someone you want as an enemy. He's huge and menacing and smart in an "I can think of all sorts of creative ways to make you disappear, permanently" sort of way. But Tam Lin is also loyal and kind and really funny. What's the deal with this guy? Matt, too, isn't sure at first. He spends the first few weeks tiptoeing around him. The man is just so large and dangerous looking, like having a tame grizzly bear in your house (7.23). Despite the fact that he's kind of scary and gruff, he's also funny and kind-hearted: "Could you teach me?" asked Matt. Tam Lin let out a bellow of genuine laughter. "I could if you wanted to learn how to break desks with karate chops. I'll be around to hang you out the window by your ankles if you don't study." (8.82-3) Clearly, he looks out for Matt, so it's no surprise that Tam Lin quickly becomes Matt's friend, teacher and father figure. Throughout Matt's childhood, I manage to almost forget about Tam Lin's real role at the Alacrán estate. It's easy to see Tam Lin as the rough-around-the-edges guy who is Matt's very loyal friend and protector. It's harder to see Tam Lin as a tough and mean bodyguard who is loyal to El Patrón.
The big ideas
Identity
No one likes it when someone copies them, or wears the same outfit, or has the same shoes. We all want to have our own identity, our own sense of self, right? Okay, so imagine, then, that you are an exact genetic copy of someone else. How in the world are you supposed to be original, when you are literally identical to someone else, right down to your very genes? It's a problem that Matt deals with all throughout The House of the Scorpion, and his identity issues are further complicated by the fact that he's cloned from a Very Bad Man. That's right; Matt's the exact genetic copy of El Patrón, a ruthless dictator and drug lord. As he grows into manhood, Matt has to fight not to follow in El Patrón's footsteps. He struggles to be his own person and make his own decisions. And he's not the only one. Everyone in Opium is under El Patrón's control, and it's hard to be yourself when you have a man like that watching over you. In the end, Matt discovers that he can create his own identity by making choices on his own.
Choices
Matt must face his own struggles and return home to take control of Opium. Matt doesn't go to battle in any kind of traditional way. There's no sword in a stone or magic wand he pulls out to duke it out with El Patrón. Matt might be a hero on a grand scale (he does take over an entire country by the novel's end), but he's also a young boy with no special gifts. Instead, Matt makes choices of a more realistic variety. He fights El Patrón by growing up to be a good, strong person. He's come into his own and out from under El Patrón's shadow, all by calling his own shots in life.
Lies and Deceit
In The House of the Scorpion, everyone but Matt seems to be in on a secret. Even when that secret is revealed to Matt, he's still in the dark about a lot of other things, and he remains in the dark only because of the atmosphere of lying and deceit that El Patrón has created in Opium. There are all kinds of lies in Opium – ones that are total secrets (like Tom's parentage) and others that are open secrets (like Matt's being a clone). These secrets are kept secret because they are threats to El Patrón's power, and also because they are painful to acknowledge. Growing up in such an environment means that facing the truth is a hard lesson for Matt to learn. But he definitely learns it, with the help of Esperanza's shockingly truthful book, A History of Opium. Our hunch is that when Matt returns to set things right in his home country, he'll need to expose all the secrets that allowed El Patrón to have total control for so long.
Major conflict(s)
There are a set of at least 4 major conflicts in this novel, Person vs. Society, Person vs. Self, Person vs. Person, and Person vs. Environment. Matt deals with all these conflicts all throughout this novel. He deals with Person vs. Society in the beginning of the novel because no one respects him since he is a clone. Everyone always keeps their distance and don’t trying and attract attention to him. This is all up until the point when they discover he is Mr. Alacran’s clone. But even after that is discovered they still don’t treat him with the fullest of respect especially when Mr. Alacran is away. Then this is when Matt begins to deal with Person vs. Self. He starts to wonder what is wrong with him he doesn’t know why they treat him like that and why they wouldn’t like him. He feels like he deserves more respect since he has done nothing to deserve it. And if that wasn’t enough he deals with his feelings for the senator’s daughter Maria. He doesn’t know whether he does or doesn’t like her for a long time and debates whether or not he should tell her. But if that wasn’t enough Matt also had to deal with Tom which brings me to the conflict Person vs. Person. Tom is Matt’s bully in the novel which makes the Person vs. Person. At one point Tom and Matt actually got into a brawl or fight! It started because Tom wouldn’t quit messing with him. Thankfully Tam Lin was there to stop it. And even after that fight Tom kept pushing Matt’s limits. He started by talking and hanging out with Maria in front of Matt. At one point Tom hides Maria’s pet dog in the toilet and blames Matt. This causes Maria to think Matt is a bad person and gets mad at him. Finally, towards the end of the Novel matt has to deal with the environment when he makes his escape to the USA. This is Person vs. Environment because he has to deal with the elements and stuff like that. He has to survive with no shelter and find his own way to the US in other words he pretty much lost. But after a while he stumbles upon a shrimp factory where other lost children work. But then he realizes he will stay there forever unless he leaves so he ends up escaping .
Symbolic Image
For the symbolic image I’ve decided to pic the caterpillar. I fell like the caterpillar and Matt share some really key aspects. For example, in the novel Matt starts off as a young boy who lives far from civilization and is unaware of the outside world. Matt is pretty much in his own little cocoon. And then after he breaks out of the cocoon, much like a caterpillar, he starts to learn, grown and develop with the outside world. Matt starts to learn about not only his surroundings but also about his destiny. This is why I fell like the caterpillar is the best symbolic image for this book.
5 new words
Ejitt
- Slave that will do anything told to.
- The Ejitts stayed in their own farm and worked until told to stop.
Shabby
- Dirty, messy, worn, used.
- The room young Matt was thrown into was Shabby and small.
Misbegotten
- Having an improper basis or origin; ill conceived
- Everyone told Matt he was just to be Misbegotten
Sinister
- Coming from evil characteristics
- Everyone described El Patron as Sinister.
Loathe
- To detest, or hate
- Matt had a distinct Loathe to Tom.
The House of the Scorpion has a similar story as the movie Frankenstein or the Hunchback of Notre Dame. The house of the scorpion is similar to Frankenstein in the sense of Matt and Mr. Alacran’s relationship. Mr. Alacran made Matt specifically for his gain while Frankenstein was made to be a person without any gain. I think that would be the only difference between the two stories. Other than that it’s pretty much the same thing. Matt is bullied and teased because he is a clone and nothing but a sack of organs for Mr. Alacran and Frankenstein is just a sick monster in everyone else’s minds. But even though everyone sees him as a monster his creator still loves him and only wants the best just like in The House of the Scorpion. Mr. Alacran tells everyone that Matt is to be respected no matter what. Anyone not ok with that would be punished. So Matt and Frankenstein are both just simply outcasts of their stories. Just like Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In this story a bell ringer is considered a cast away because of his deformity. And just as he is considered not normal so is Matt. Since Matt is a clone of El Patron, who everyone hates, they automatically assume Matts bad. What’s really similar between The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The House of the Scorpion is that in both stories both castaways fall in a state of love. Matt Falls in love with Maria Mendoza and Quasimodo falls in love with Esmeralda. But in the end everything seems to work out for our castaways in some way.
The House of the Scorpion.!
By: Nancy Farmer
Tis book was absolutely the most interesting book that I've ever read. In a way the book threw itself to me i just had to read it.The reason I chose this book is very simple. Not only is it quite intriguing and relatable it is also the most interesting book I’ve ever read. It just had a real good mixture of drama and deceit. It practically threw itself towards me.
Genre:
I’ve classified this to be under speculative fiction, young adult literature, science fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction. This is because The House of the Scorpion is a speculative fictional book because it’s from a futuristic point of view of modern day Mexico. Which is ruled by a drug lord (Mr. Alacran) who has made it into a Utopia for those who are wealthy and at the top of the social hierarchy. For example, Mr. Mendoza visits his estate regularly because he’s a senator which puts him on top of the hierarchy. This novel fits in to young adult fiction simply because it deals with a young boy growing up and becoming a young man including the challenges and rough times he went through. It also falls under this category because it is directed to young adults whether it’s the moral image or lesson it is used to intrigue young adults and I can honestly say it intrigued me. It’s simply science fiction because this obviously didn’t happen or hasn’t happened and will most likely not happen. So that leaves us with the discussing of why this falls under utopian fiction. This fall under that because Atzlan is a place where there is social and political perfection. It was a place designed and made to be perfect.Summary:
The book is quite interesting actually. It’s told from the futuristic point of view of modern day Mexico. It’s the story of a young boy who is designed and created to be a clone for the world’s richest and most powerful drug lord (Mr. Alacran). The only catch is that he doesn’t know he’s a clone. He finds out after he leaves with the Mendoza kids to the estate and then there is where the story truly begins. At the estate the drama and conflict begins to occur. Everyone starts bullying young Matt and treating him like crap. But as he grows older he begins to realize what he was made to do which is be used as an organ donor for the drug lord (Mr. Alacran).Character Summary:
El Patrón Is compared to a vampire multiple times throughout the novel, and it's never a compliment. If you think about it, comparing him to a mummy might work just as well. What I – and the characters in the book – are getting at is the fact that El Patrón is crazy old and seriously creepy. At over 140 years-old, he definitely shouldn't still be alive, and in that sense, he's a lot like Voldemort –alive and kicking when he should be dead as a doornail. Oh, and to top it off, he's evil. Of course, this is all making it sound like El Patrón is some sort of hideous, monstrous troll. But the freakiest thing of all is that El Patrón looks like a normal guy. He isn't a mutant. And for all his evil qualities (of which there are many), El Patrón can be quite likeable. It's why Matt feels a lot of affection, and even love, towards El Patrón, especially in the beginning of the novel, before he wises up.“Always choose your bodyguard from another country, they find it harder to make alliance and betray you.”
Maria As Matt's love interest, María could have just as easily been a dolt – nothing but eye candy for Matt to swoon over. Luckily, Farmer gives us a fully-drawn character with a complicated family life instead. Farmer also got away from traditional hero tales by making María less than perfect. In fact, I don't mind saying it, María is downright annoying at times.
"I know that's a sin, and I'll probably go to hell for it."
Tam Lin Tam Lin, Matt's mentor and guardian, is not someone you want as an enemy. He's huge and menacing and smart in an "I can think of all sorts of creative ways to make you disappear, permanently" sort of way. But Tam Lin is also loyal and kind and really funny. What's the deal with this guy? Matt, too, isn't sure at first. He spends the first few weeks tiptoeing around him. The man is just so large and dangerous looking, like having a tame grizzly bear in your house (7.23). Despite the fact that he's kind of scary and gruff, he's also funny and kind-hearted: "Could you teach me?" asked Matt. Tam Lin let out a bellow of genuine laughter. "I could if you wanted to learn how to break desks with karate chops. I'll be around to hang you out the window by your ankles if you don't study." (8.82-3) Clearly, he looks out for Matt, so it's no surprise that Tam Lin quickly becomes Matt's friend, teacher and father figure. Throughout Matt's childhood, I manage to almost forget about Tam Lin's real role at the Alacrán estate. It's easy to see Tam Lin as the rough-around-the-edges guy who is Matt's very loyal friend and protector. It's harder to see Tam Lin as a tough and mean bodyguard who is loyal to El Patrón.
The big ideas
IdentityNo one likes it when someone copies them, or wears the same outfit, or has the same shoes. We all want to have our own identity, our own sense of self, right? Okay, so imagine, then, that you are an exact genetic copy of someone else. How in the world are you supposed to be original, when you are literally identical to someone else, right down to your very genes? It's a problem that Matt deals with all throughout The House of the Scorpion, and his identity issues are further complicated by the fact that he's cloned from a Very Bad Man. That's right; Matt's the exact genetic copy of El Patrón, a ruthless dictator and drug lord. As he grows into manhood, Matt has to fight not to follow in El Patrón's footsteps. He struggles to be his own person and make his own decisions. And he's not the only one. Everyone in Opium is under El Patrón's control, and it's hard to be yourself when you have a man like that watching over you. In the end, Matt discovers that he can create his own identity by making choices on his own.
Choices
Matt must face his own struggles and return home to take control of Opium. Matt doesn't go to battle in any kind of traditional way. There's no sword in a stone or magic wand he pulls out to duke it out with El Patrón. Matt might be a hero on a grand scale (he does take over an entire country by the novel's end), but he's also a young boy with no special gifts. Instead, Matt makes choices of a more realistic variety. He fights El Patrón by growing up to be a good, strong person. He's come into his own and out from under El Patrón's shadow, all by calling his own shots in life.
Lies and Deceit
In The House of the Scorpion, everyone but Matt seems to be in on a secret. Even when that secret is revealed to Matt, he's still in the dark about a lot of other things, and he remains in the dark only because of the atmosphere of lying and deceit that El Patrón has created in Opium. There are all kinds of lies in Opium – ones that are total secrets (like Tom's parentage) and others that are open secrets (like Matt's being a clone). These secrets are kept secret because they are threats to El Patrón's power, and also because they are painful to acknowledge. Growing up in such an environment means that facing the truth is a hard lesson for Matt to learn. But he definitely learns it, with the help of Esperanza's shockingly truthful book, A History of Opium. Our hunch is that when Matt returns to set things right in his home country, he'll need to expose all the secrets that allowed El Patrón to have total control for so long.
Major conflict(s)
There are a set of at least 4 major conflicts in this novel, Person vs. Society, Person vs. Self, Person vs. Person, and Person vs. Environment. Matt deals with all these conflicts all throughout this novel. He deals with Person vs. Society in the beginning of the novel because no one respects him since he is a clone. Everyone always keeps their distance and don’t trying and attract attention to him. This is all up until the point when they discover he is Mr. Alacran’s clone. But even after that is discovered they still don’t treat him with the fullest of respect especially when Mr. Alacran is away. Then this is when Matt begins to deal with Person vs. Self. He starts to wonder what is wrong with him he doesn’t know why they treat him like that and why they wouldn’t like him. He feels like he deserves more respect since he has done nothing to deserve it. And if that wasn’t enough he deals with his feelings for the senator’s daughter Maria. He doesn’t know whether he does or doesn’t like her for a long time and debates whether or not he should tell her. But if that wasn’t enough Matt also had to deal with Tom which brings me to the conflict Person vs. Person. Tom is Matt’s bully in the novel which makes the Person vs. Person. At one point Tom and Matt actually got into a brawl or fight! It started because Tom wouldn’t quit messing with him. Thankfully Tam Lin was there to stop it. And even after that fight Tom kept pushing Matt’s limits. He started by talking and hanging out with Maria in front of Matt. At one point Tom hides Maria’s pet dog in the toilet and blames Matt. This causes Maria to think Matt is a bad person and gets mad at him. Finally, towards the end of the Novel matt has to deal with the environment when he makes his escape to the USA. This is Person vs. Environment because he has to deal with the elements and stuff like that. He has to survive with no shelter and find his own way to the US in other words he pretty much lost. But after a while he stumbles upon a shrimp factory where other lost children work. But then he realizes he will stay there forever unless he leaves so he ends up escaping .Symbolic Image
For the symbolic image I’ve decided to pic the caterpillar. I fell like the caterpillar and Matt share some really key aspects. For example, in the novel Matt starts off as a young boy who lives far from civilization and is unaware of the outside world. Matt is pretty much in his own little cocoon. And then after he breaks out of the cocoon, much like a caterpillar, he starts to learn, grown and develop with the outside world. Matt starts to learn about not only his surroundings but also about his destiny. This is why I fell like the caterpillar is the best symbolic image for this book.
5 new words
Ejitt
- Slave that will do anything told to.
- The Ejitts stayed in their own farm and worked until told to stop.
Shabby
- Dirty, messy, worn, used.
- The room young Matt was thrown into was Shabby and small.
Misbegotten
- Having an improper basis or origin; ill conceived
- Everyone told Matt he was just to be Misbegotten
Sinister
- Coming from evil characteristics
- Everyone described El Patron as Sinister.
Loathe
- To detest, or hate
- Matt had a distinct Loathe to Tom.
The House of the Scorpion has a similar story as the movie Frankenstein or the Hunchback of Notre Dame. The house of the scorpion is similar to Frankenstein in the sense of Matt and Mr. Alacran’s relationship. Mr. Alacran made Matt specifically for his gain while Frankenstein was made to be a person without any gain. I think that would be the only difference between the two stories. Other than that it’s pretty much the same thing. Matt is bullied and teased because he is a clone and nothing but a sack of organs for Mr. Alacran and Frankenstein is just a sick monster in everyone else’s minds. But even though everyone sees him as a monster his creator still loves him and only wants the best just like in The House of the Scorpion. Mr. Alacran tells everyone that Matt is to be respected no matter what. Anyone not ok with that would be punished. So Matt and Frankenstein are both just simply outcasts of their stories. Just like Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In this story a bell ringer is considered a cast away because of his deformity. And just as he is considered not normal so is Matt. Since Matt is a clone of El Patron, who everyone hates, they automatically assume Matts bad. What’s really similar between The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The House of the Scorpion is that in both stories both castaways fall in a state of love. Matt Falls in love with Maria Mendoza and Quasimodo falls in love with Esmeralda. But in the end everything seems to work out for our castaways in some way.
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/11957856-jesus-mendez
Quater 2 Book
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/497727964